BUILDING SAFER AND MORE POTENT TREATMENTS
OUR SOLUTION
Deliver medicines that target cell surface protein communities.
DISCOVERY
Cells build unique protein complexes on their surfaces. The science of a cell’s Surfaceome of which Centrose reported about in 2021, is a complex network of interacting proteins and critical to how cells function and communicate. Importantly, these protein communities are cell type specific and thus can be targeted with exquisite precision.
EDCs are True Next Generation ADCs
EDCs are antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) that don’t require internalization, nor do they require breakdown. In fact, for EDCs to work, the drug has to be attached to the antibody and the two proteins have to be outside of the cell. This is why we named them Extracellular Drug Conjugates and not just Antibody Drug Conjugates.
Benefits of Extracellular Targeting
In our first studies, we found that EDC Technology allowed us to direct a potent small molecule drug to a community of proteins found on certain metastatic cancer cells. When the EDC was added to these cells in vitro or in vivo, these cancer cells could be specifically destroyed, leaving all other cells untouched. Centrose then went on to discover that many other EDCs to other protein communities could be targeted as well. Further studies went on to shown that in non-human primates, specific blood cells cells could also be selectively removed. This is important for safety and a key goal in immune-therapies where drugs like Yervoy and Keytruda activate certain blood cells so they can remove cancer cells.
REPORTS
As we reported in cell press publication, Centrose provides data showing that proteins like CD20 and CD38 also are involved in cell surface communities. With this knowledge, Centrose has since developed a number of EDCs for different cancer types like lung, pancreatic and lymphomas.
PIPELINE
EDC9 targets B-Cell cancers such as drug resistant NHL.
EDC1 targets metastatic cancers that express dysadherin.
EDC8 targets lymphomas that express CD38.
